Stankonia by OutKast (2000) — a VG+ original pressing is worth £35–£60. The pressing to own, and the case for № 73: OutKast at their commercial peak. Big Boi rapping over breakbeats while André wrote 'Ms. Jackson' upstairs. The last great Southern rap double album.
Estimated market value of an original pressing of Stankonia by OutKast, by sleeve and media condition on the Goldmine grading scale.
The pressing to look for: 2000 US, LaFace / Arista 07822-26072-1 (first pressing, 2× LP gatefold). Catalogue number 07822-26072-1.
Researched market ranges for the original pressing; condition, completeness of inserts and pressing variant all move the figure. The Lead-In values every record against live marketplace data — value your own shelf for a current, condition-matched figure.
Twenty-four tracks in 73 minutes. Recorded across roughly eighteen months at OutKast's Stankonia Studios in Atlanta with OutKast, Organized Noize, and Earthtone III co-producing. OutKast's fourth LP, Big Boi and André 3000 at their commercial-and-critical peak, released by LaFace / Arista in October 2000. The album that pushed Aquemini's genre-omnivorous template to maximalist commercial-pop scale. Diamond US.
Twenty-four tracks in 73 minutes. Recorded across approximately eighteen months at OutKast's Stankonia Studios in Atlanta. The duo's fourth LP and commercial breakthrough, André 3000 and Big Boi at their most-eclectic. The album that consolidated OutKast as a mainstream commercial-pop force and provided the template for the deliberately-eclectic 2000s commercial hip-hop LP.
OutKast in autumn 1999 was twenty-four-year-old André 3000 and twenty-four-year-old Big Boi, four albums into their Atlanta hip-hop career. The plan for the fourth LP was that it would consolidate the deliberately-eclectic vocabulary that Aquemini had introduced into a deliberately-commercial-pop statement.
Recording extended at OutKast's Stankonia Studios (which they had purchased in 1999) across approximately eighteen months. The deliberately-collective Dungeon Family roster continued; the deliberately-multi-genre integration was extended.
The album's twenty-four tracks consolidated the deliberately-eclectic vocabulary into a commercially-viable register. The deliberately-jazz-influenced, deliberately-funk-influenced, deliberately-electronic-influenced production approaches established the founding template for 2000s commercial hip-hop's deliberately-eclectic register.
LaFace Arista released the album on October 31, 2000. The album debuted at US #2 with 525,000 first-week SoundScan units; 'Ms. Jackson' peaked at US #1 in February 2001. The album was certified 4× Platinum by 2003.
Stankonia belongs at #73 because it is the album that consolidated OutKast as a mainstream commercial-pop force and provided the template for the deliberately-eclectic 2000s commercial hip-hop LP.
Original 2000 US pressing on LaFace Records / Arista, catalog 73008-26072-1, a double LP mastered at Absolute Audio in NYC. First-press copies carry a front-cover hype sticker ('THE STANKIEST ALBUM OF THEIR CAREER!' citing 'B.O.B.' and 'Ms. Jackson') and an insert. A later orange translucent vinyl variant exists, so verify the standard black vinyl with the full 73008-26072-1 catalog number for the original. Black vinyl was a normal concurrent release alongside the primary CD.
© The Lead-In · an independent, reader-supported music publication.
